Manipulations of the Mind I: Dreams
by Diana Alexander
Summary: Mulder's caught in a dream cycle, but is it just a dream, or more?


DISCLAIMER: The characters in this piece of fiction that are  
recognizable from Chris Carter's insane piece of work known as  
the X-Files belong to him, his company Ten-Thirteen Productions  
and Fox Broadcasting. Anything else, characters, situations or  
otherwise, belong to this very insane author.  
RATING: PG-13  
CLASSIFICATION: SA  
KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully UST/Romance/I have no idea *what* to call  
it...  
SPOILERS: "Chinga", "The Unnatural", "Kitsunegari", "Field Trip",  
"X-Files: Fight The Future"  
TIMELINE: Splits away from the normal XF universe between "Field   
Trip" and "Biogenesis"  
URL: troublexf.homepage.com/dalexander/manipulate/mind01.txt  
FEEDBACK: always welcome at dmulder@flashmail.com  
ARCHIVE: Anywhere's fine... Gossamer, Xemplary, Ephemeral,  
yeah... whatever... *grin*  
SUMMARY: Mulder's caught in a dream cycle, but is it just a  
dream, or more?  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, this is angsty, a little twisted, and more   
than a little off-the-wall. Dialogue between the [] is being  
spoken by Scully, dialogue between is being spoken by Mulder,  
and dialogue between '' is being spoken by someone who will  
reveal herself at the end of the story. More author's notes at  
the end of the story.  
  
***********************************  
Manipulations Of The Mind: Dreams  
(Part 1 of 1)  
By: Diana Alexander  
dmulder@flashmail.com  
***********************************  
  
Every night since he had returned, Fox Mulder found himself  
sinking into flashbacks that masqueraded themselves as dreams.  
Unlike dreams of the past, events didn't shift to make matters  
worse, better, or to place blame firmly upon his shoulders.  
Instead, this time, he was given only the facts, and those facts  
made it clear that the events were beyond either one of them.  
  
The pain made itself known almost immediately during these  
dreams. He was never quite certain whether the pain was physical,  
emotional, neither, or both. All he knew for certain was that  
the pain was not all his.  
  
Sometime during the experiments on his body and especially his  
mind, Mulder found himself running from pain that swiftly rose to  
intolerable levels. At first, his memory of how he got there was  
unclear, and in fact, his memory of anything was vague and seemed  
to be someone else's life. The only thing that *was* clear was  
his worry for Scully, and that worry apparently drove him out of  
his mind and into hers.  
  
When he hovered between his mind and hers, the memories started  
coming rapidly, in flashes that weren't at all pleasant. Why did  
it seem that his and Scully's association was so often rooted in  
pain? Couldn't they experience joy for a single moment without  
it being stolen from them in one way or another?  
  
Flash. "I... I just wanted to get out of my own head for a few  
days," Scully stood before him, and an expression crossed her  
face that indicated that she might have ended up in his own mind  
instead and found it an uncomfortable experience.  
  
That was unsurprising. Even he found being inside his own mind  
an uncomfortable experience on most days.  
  
Flash. They were in a dark vehicle that was moving around them,  
covered in a fluid that burned every place that it covered. Where  
is she? Where is she? Glance. Inaudible sigh of relief. Reach.  
Grasp. Hold.  
  
That damned magic mushroom. It had almost devoured the both of  
them while they were trapped in each other's hallucinations.  
Shared hallucinations in minds that worked on similar, if not the  
same, wavelength on most days. It made sense to him, and he  
suspected it made sense to her, although they had never talked  
about it. Hell, they never talked about *anything*.  
  
Flash. They were both standing in a warehouse in which she saw  
him through her own eyes, and he was holding a gun at her. A  
desperate need to convince him of the mind game that was being  
pulled on him ran through her mind. That damned fox hunt.  
Finally, after succeeding in making him realise that it was  
really her and not Linda Bowman standing in front of him, she was  
able to call 9-1-1 to take the real Bowman off to the emergency  
room.   
  
Afterwards, they had both taken the time to share the physical  
and emotional support needed. They had both been so distant  
during this case, for various reasons. Worry. Pain. Fear. The  
list went on into infinity.  
  
However, the last flash, most recent, was the most painful.  
  
Flash. It was a simple walk through the park, away from the  
Reflecting Pool where they had spent a beautiful afternoon  
talking. Just talking about anything under the sun, which ranged  
from the antics of Scully's nieces and nephews to whether McGwire  
would beat Sosa in the home run race this year. Ever since that  
one night when they'd hit baseballs until after midnight, Scully  
had shown an increasing interest in the sport.  
  
That's when the Men in Black had shown up, and after that point,  
things got confusing, especially since it felt like he and Scully  
were trying to protect each other and stand firmly against the  
men who were facing them all at the same time. That's when they  
noticed the tranquilizer guns that the men were carrying.  
Moments later, two shots were fired, one catching Scully in the  
chest and the other hitting Mulder in the side of the neck.  
  
She slumped against him, and Mulder caught her before she fell,  
even as his body began to react to the drugs that had just  
entered into his bloodstream. Scully visibly fought the effects  
of the drugs as she asked him, "Dammit, Mulder, what do they  
want?"  
  
"I'm afraid, Scully, that they haven't exactly been forthcoming  
with that information..."  
  
He sank to the ground, Scully in his arms. Her eyes, already  
starting to glaze over, met his with amusement, "Well, Mulder,  
doesn't that just figure?"  
  
Then everything went black.  
  
The darkness surrounded him for a long time before he felt his  
soul wrapped in a balm that he had had six years to get used to.  
It wasn't so much a lightening in the fact that he could *see*  
anything, but yet, he knew she was there.  
  
Scully? Scully?  
  
[Mulder, I'm here... What's going on? Where are we? It  
hurts...]  
  
I don't have much of a clue where we are... Dreamland, maybe?  
  
[Too late. Been there already,] she responded, and Mulder could  
almost see the grin on her face. After a moment he realised that  
she was right; they had been there already.  
  
Okay, so that's out. Don't have much of a clue what's going on,  
either.  
  
There was an impression that Scully shook her head, almost as if  
to clear it.  
  
This isn't like it was before... Mulder continued, not sure  
where that knowledge came from, but Scully was fast to concur.  
  
[You're right. No extraction of genetic material. But, Mulder,  
what are they doing?]  
  
Experiments, Scully.  
  
[What *kind* of experiments?]  
  
She was starting to sound exasperated with him, and to be  
entirely truthful, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that they  
seemed to be making those experiments as painful as possible. He  
tried to search his painfogged memory for the answers, but came  
up empty. There was something about the mind...  
  
[Experiments of the mind? Manipulations?]  
  
Seems to be... but what kind of manipulations? And to what  
extent? For what reason?  
  
[These people don't need reasons,] was her answer to his last  
question, and Mulder sensed that it scared both of them. It was,  
however, the truth.  
  
With nothing more than a thought, Mulder found himself surrounded  
by brilliant white light that seemed to make everything glow with  
its light. It wasn't like a spiritual moment, but had a feel of  
cold, cruel science to it instead. Only with his arm raised  
across his eyes, did he dare to open them. He was standing in a  
room that had the same quality of glaring white that a hospital  
did.  
  
[It is a hospital, Mulder, but yet it isn't,] Scully's voice  
sounded weary. [If I had to describe it, I would have say that it  
*is* a hospital, only twisted to the nth degree.]  
  
Twisted? He turned to see Scully standing beside him, and even  
in the translucent state that he shared, she looked pale as she  
watched the proceedings.  
  
[Twisted is the only word that I can find to describe it, but  
even that isn't accurate.]  
  
He found himself studying the scientists poking and prodding at  
their prone bodies, trying to figure out the familiarity of it.  
It was more for that reason than to avoid the eyes of his  
partner, even though that had crossed his mind as well. The  
number of times that he had seen Dana Scully truly terrified of  
something, he could count on the fingers of one hand. I see...  
  
[Do you, Mulder? Do you really?]  
  
His mind worked for a moment before it finally put together what  
he was seeing in front of him. He was shocked, and more than a  
little outraged.  
  
So, we've been lab rats all this time?   
  
Scully had a terrifying sort of calm about her when she nodded,  
but despite that, Mulder wanted to get the both of them out of  
here when he saw the expression on her face. That haunted and  
scared look would haunt him for all the days of his life.  
However, it was kind of difficult to do leave while their bodies  
were laying on the operating tables in front of them while they  
watched.  
  
You know, Scully, I always wanted to see what my mind looked  
like, but I never imagined it to be like this.  
  
[You think I did?]   
  
He succeeded in getting an arched eyebrow and a smile out of her,  
one that took the edge off of the haunted look, but not entirely.  
He would give anything to take that look away from her entirely,  
using whatever method necessary. They both turned and looked  
around the laboratory that had become the new home for their  
bodies.  
  
It looked like home sweet home to anyone of the scientific  
persuasion, but there was more. The technology they had here was  
like nothing either of them had ever seen. Or at least, that  
they had seen and remembered. Remembered. His line of thought  
was triggering something, and Mulder shook his head sharply to  
try and clear it away. In response, Scully laid a hand upon his  
shoulder.  
  
[You're remembering, aren't you?]  
  
What am I remembering? He shook his head, and it felt as pain-  
fogged as it had prior to entering this shared state of  
consciousness that he and Scully were involved in.  
  
[You were here before. So was I,] she told him in a  
near-monotone, almost as though she was in a trance. He gave her  
a frightened look before he realised that they both could  
remember things here that would have been dangerous for them to  
realise during their waking hours.  
  
She was remembering, too, and it was scaring her as much as it  
was scaring him. They had to get out of here, and soon.  
  
When?  
  
[After Skyland Mountain...]   
  
Flash. Pain rose high as needles were stuck into his prone body,  
testing his reactions to various stimuli. After they were  
finally satisfied, the needles were taken away, only to be  
replaced with an electric shock. After what seemed like hours, or  
even days, Mulder could finally hear himself give into the pain  
and scream. The remembered sound of it rose gooseflesh on his  
arms.  
  
[I heard you... Mulder, I heard you scream. They didn't keep you  
long, but for what time you were here, it was painful. I could  
feel it.]  
  
I... I know... For months, I kept seeing you... this light.  
You were surrounded by this light. He gestured around the room  
at the glow that surrounded everything, and she nodded.  
  
[We have to get out of here.]  
  
Yes, but how? I know that in one of his books, Bach claims that  
you can walk through walls if you keep in mind that it's all  
illusions, but every time I try, I nearly break my face.  
  
She rolled her eyes at him. [Mulder...]  
  
Yes, Scully?  
  
[You seem to have forgotten one important fact. As illogical as  
it may seem, we are over here--] she pointed a finger towards the  
floor where her feet were seemingly still encased in the soft  
leather boots she had been wearing before this whole mess had  
began. [--while our bodies are over there, being experimented  
upon.]  
  
Oh.  
  
She smiled. [You are never given a wish without being given the  
means to make it true...?]   
  
You may have to work for it, however... He chuckled. I didn't  
realise you remembered that.  
  
[You were quoting Illusions for weeks, Mulder. Let's try and see  
if being illusions ourselves helps us conquer some other  
illusions.]  
  
Like walls?  
  
[Precisely.]  
  
He linked hands with her, then looked down at her in surprise.  
I'm having trouble believing that you're accepting this all so  
easily.  
  
[Oh, believe me, Mulder, I'm not. None of this is easy for me,  
but I'm going with what works. I'll worry about it later.  
Besides,] and her eyes laughed at him, [this could all be just a  
dream of yours.]  
  
Oh, you're funny...  
  
A flash of a smirk crossed her face. [I thought so.]  
  
After they closed their eyes, they took one step through the  
wall, and it felt like falling through space for a moment, only  
instead of black, it was a rush of sheer whiteness before they  
landed on the other side, hands still linked, but landing on top  
of one another.  
  
Mulder grinned at the look on Scully's face. For a moment, he  
could have sworn that she *enjoyed* being on top of him. Hmm,  
that's something to keep in mind.  
  
[Get your mind out of the gutter, Mulder,] she grumbled.  
  
Impossible, he told her as he slid out from under her before  
helping her to her feet.  
  
She blinked at him, and he could hear her mind racing through the  
scientific concepts that helped her understand things in life for  
an answer. An answer to the question of exactly how he did that,  
and if pressed, Mulder wasn't even sure he could tell her. Or  
himself, for that matter.   
  
An answer popped into his mind, and he leaned in close for  
effect, Well, Agent Scully, you were the one suggesting that the  
non-physical body could do things that the physical body was  
somewhat limited in doing.  
  
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. [I did not  
think, Mulder, that sliding out from under me and scaring me half  
to death in the process was among those things.]  
  
He shrugged, Yeah, well, you never know.  
  
[How long do you think we can stay away from the physical body  
without it having an adverse effect?]  
  
I was just thinking about that. He frowned. Truth be told,  
Scully, I'm not sure.  
  
They thought on that as they walked through the labyrinth  
hallways of the complex they had been brought into. There were  
no windows anywhere, and very few doors to give them any sense of  
what time of day or night it was. It felt almost as though time  
had frozen after they had been hit by those tranquiliser guns in  
the park. Mulder paused for a moment, thinking about the books  
he had read on the topic of out of body experiences, which is  
certainly what this seemed to be.  
  
[Mulder...?]   
  
I was just thinking... and no, don't say it, Scully. No matter  
how much you may want to right now...  
  
[Go ahead,] she bowed her head slightly.  
  
In one of the books I read, it said that as long as the cord  
isn't disconnected from the astral body, he watched her eyebrows  
seem to arch further up on her forehead the more he spoke, there  
can still be a return to the corporeal body without any threat of  
death.  
  
Scully glanced behind her and around her body before looking back  
up at Mulder, [I don't see any cords anywhere.]  
  
Sometimes they're not visible... he murmured distractedly,  
still trying to think.  
  
[Mulder, that theory sounded like something out of one of  
Melissa's New Age books.]  
  
Doesn't this whole situation read like one of those books?  
  
[Hmm... I didn't really think of that.]  
  
Suddenly, he just started laughing. The whole situation, despite  
the severity, despite the fact that he couldn't get out of his  
mind the way their bodies looked back there in that laboratory,  
seemed absurdly funny. For a moment, Scully looked at him like he  
had lost what little mind he had left, then joined him in  
laughter.  
  
They could have laughed together for minutes or days with the way  
time seemed to freeze in this cursed place, but after a few  
moments, it began to fade away. It might have been hysterics, or  
the beginning of hysterics anyway, but it had felt good. Scully  
just leaned against Mulder, her hair falling onto his shoulder,  
and he was amazed that in their state, how things seemed to react  
as if it were the actual physical bodies.  
  
Then there was a shudder, followed by the words that Mulder  
thought he'd never hear again, except in his nightmares.  
  
[Mulder... something's wrong...]  
  
Flash. "... I'm having lancinating pain in... chest..."  
  
He looked at her, and watched her body fade in and out, as well  
as his sense of her presence, which he had had felt since the  
moment they had entered into this bizarre situation. He tried to  
hold onto her with hands that seemed to be unable to grasp  
anything.  
  
[Guess... things didn't turn out as planned... somehow...]  
  
No... Scully, no...  
  
[Don't have much of a choice... Mulder... dammit...]   
  
For a moment, her presence seemed to strengthen to a brilliance  
that Mulder had suspected Scully of having, but had never had any  
real proof to back it up. Then, as abruptly as she had  
brightened, Scully faded out altogether, leaving him standing  
there holding air.  
  
The connection was still there, though, in his mind. For a  
moment, he felt a burst of pain, and Scully's scream in his head  
right before the connection snapped altogether.  
  
That is where the difference between dreamtime and waking blur,  
since they always end the same way. In the dream, Mulder fell to  
his knees and screamed her name, sounding as though he really had  
lost his mind.  
  
That carried over into wakefulness, and the two people watching  
seemed to curl into themselves with the pain.  
  
All Mulder knew at that point was that Scully was gone, it felt  
like someone had ripped a piece out of his very soul, and there  
was the sound of a hundred voices all jumbled together echoing  
inside his head like some sort of deranged radio. It even had  
the static.  
  
Finally, the woman couldn't stand it anymore and turned away from  
the room, and the sound of Dana's name being shouted over and  
over again without any decrease in the amount of pain in the  
shout. She covered her ears and blocked his mindshout out of her  
mind as she ran from the room.  
  
After a moment, and only after placing a soothing balm on  
Mulder's mind, encouraging him to slip back into dreamless  
slumber, did the man in the room follow her. After a moment, he  
caught her, and grasped her arm, forcing her to halt her forward  
movement.  
  
"Stop... stop... this isn't helping anything..."   
  
"I've got to go after her. He's a brother to me, dammit! I  
can't stand seeing him in this much pain... and can you imagine  
the pain Dana's in. I can't *leave* them like this. Let me go!"  
  
"I'll go."  
  
She shook her head, threatening to give herself whiplash with her  
own long hair, "No... Daniel, no... you just got out of there!"  
  
"And both you and I know what they're capable of. If they get  
a hold of Dana, they may well destroy everything that makes her  
*her*. Do you want that?"  
  
"No!" Storm Austin glared at her best friend's fiance. "That's  
why I was going after her."  
  
"And you haven't been on the inside since you were twenty-five.  
Storm, think about it. It's been over ten years. Besides, look  
at this logically. I know that as an empath, that's not in your  
job description, but think about it. Mulder doesn't know me. He  
knows you. When he wakes up again, you might be able to calm  
him."  
  
"Only one person would be able to calm him."  
  
"I know, I know, Storm," Daniel took her by the shoulders and  
gave her one firm shake. She glared at him in response, and he  
glared back. "Let me do this. I know the way in, and the fastest  
way out... with the least bit of pain involved to those  
effected."  
  
"I hate this."  
  
"So do I. I hate when they manipulate people who should have  
been left alone to develop on their own."  
  
Storm sighed, and her shoulders slouched ever so slightly. "This  
is going to take a long healing process."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Bring her back, Danny. Please."  
  
"That's what I intend to do."  
  
She watched him leave in near silence, then turned and walked  
back down the hall, opening herself to the man laying in the bed.  
Slowly, she pulled the door open and sat by his side. She heard  
a questioning mindwhisper, and projected a wave of reassurance in  
response.  
  
Scully... Scully...  
  
'I'm not, Scully, Mulder, but for the moment, I'll have to do.  
We're working on it, big brother. We're working on it.'  
  
She settled back in the chair for the long vigil, for that's what  
it was destined to be. A vigil.  
  
And whether they'd come out of it fully intact still remained to  
be seen.  
  
****************  
  
-End-  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES FOR THE CONFUSED:   
In case you were confused by the ending more than the rest  
of the story, first of all, in this series, Melissa Scully is  
alive and well, and causing as much trouble as possible. Daniel  
Armstrong is engaged to be married to Melissa Scully, who, out of  
respect for a friend of mine, isn't featured in this story.  
Storm, through some twisted Consortium plot, is Mulder's  
half-sister, and Daniel and Storm are friends.  
Whether this will continue is based upon how much  
encouragement I get, and how many ideas I get for further  
stories. :)  
  



End file.
